From VOA Learning English, this is the Economics Report.Many people who want to buy goods, pay for services, or send money anywhere in the world are using Bitcoin.They do not have to use banks, credit cards or other financial services when they use the electronic currency.Unlike national currency, Bitcoin is not issued by governments. Bitcoin is electronically protected or encrypted.It is bought, sold and transferred like other currencies through trading companies.Transfers happen without governments being involved or regulating the currency.Jerry Brito is a technology policy analyst at George Mason University.He says Bitcoin is the world's first, true digital currency, that is not controlled by anyone."Bitcoin basically solved a computer science problem that, for the first time, allows just two people to transact online, so it's decentralized.There's no Bitcoin company, there's no government, it's kind of like email."However, the very things that people like about Bitcoin, are also what criminals like about it.
